Life, Death, and Harmony
by Chronoeilyk
Summary: The war is over, and life for Naruto and Sauske have become somewhat normal, with love lives and responsibility. But what about Sakura and Kakashi, what about their lives and their loves. NOTE: I'll be trying my best to release a new chapter every day, and if that should fail every other day
1. Prologue

**Life, death, and Harmony**

**Prologue**

Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes. To think that the three adults standing in front of him were his former students was unbelievable. "It feels like just yesterday that these three were mere Genin, and now look at them, one has become Hokage and the other two are now Jounin in their own right" he thought Sakura and Sauske were awarded their titles and positions. After the war had ended it didn't take long for the village to recognize Naruto as a truly capable shinobi and someone who deserved to be made the 6th Hokage after Tsunade's untimely passing in battle. Sauske had returned to the village at first to try and destroy it, but after being beaten by Naruto he decided maybe he should stay, and protect the village Itachi died to protect. While Naruto worked on rebuilding the village and its relations with the other villages, he left the medical stuff to Sakura, the only person he knew who knew about that area. At first Sauske was very secluded and wasn't trusted, but after a few months people began to warm up to him again, and he eventually started working with the ANBU to catch criminals and rouges like he used to be. Naruto and Hinata finally managed to work out their feelings for each other, and have now been happily married for 6 months, and Sauske found that he and Ino actually had a lot in common; they've been dating for 4 months. Yet Kakashi hadn't found anyone to be with, though there was of course someone that had stolen his heart, but it wasn't right. He knew she could never be with an old geezer like him. His love for her would never change, despite their student-teacher relationship, despite their age difference, he would always love her, even if she never knew.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

This wasn't the life Kakashi expected after the war. He was planning to settle down after the war was over, find a woman of his own, maybe start a family. The way that Naruto and Sauske managed to start families almost right after the war made Kakashi feel proud yet sad. Clearly they had learned something from their sensei, but shouldn't he have found it first. It wasn't that Kakashi couldn't find any woman, in fact there were tons of women clamoring after him; he was a hero after all. None of them, however, could catch Kakashi's fancy. His eyes were set on one young girl, Sakura Haruno. It wasn't rare for a student to develop feelings for their teacher as they trained, since students and sensei often shared a lot of close time to bond. What was strange was finding a teacher who had feelings for their student. His attraction to her wasn't something he planned, but it wasn't something he regretted, even with the thought that they would never be together. When she was just a young Genin, he only saw a gifted girl who was smart and cunning, but lacked strength. But he watched her grow through each trial and become stronger and surer of herself. At the bridge against Zabuza and Haku where she stayed by Tazuna no matter what. Then the Chunnin exams, where she risked her life to protect the her teammates even against 3 to 1 odds. It was very unfortunate that she drew her fight against Ino, but during the finals when Gaara went berserk she was able to release the high level Nirvana jutsu all on her own. However it wasn't until she took training under Lady Tsunade that she truly started to flourish not only as a woman, but as a medical shinobi. It was during their reunion and bell test that Kakashi realized the feelings that had been growing inside of him, feelings that continued to grow with each passing day.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Kakashi-sensei…Kakashi-sensei". Coming out of his day dream Kakashi turned his head to see Sakura standing next to him with concern etched across her face. "Are you okay Kakashi-sensei?" she asked as she took a seat next to him. He couldn't help but chuckle, but stopped quickly when he realized she didn't understand the source. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, I was just off in thought. What did you need?" Kakashi asked putting down his book and looking into her emerald eyes. He was smiling and was happy to be around Sakura again, the last time he saw her had been at Tsunade's funeral, but of course she couldn't see with his mask covering his face. "Naruto-san has been trying to convince me to get the team together for a reunion, but I've been so busy fixing medical system that I haven't got a chance to talk to you and Sauske-kun", Sakura said as she picked up the book in Kakashi's lap "I can't believe you are still reading these even after all this time".

"It's a good book, and it was Jiraya-sensei's last book, so it's worth reading it again", Kakashi said as he took the book from her and looked at the cover, remember when Sakura and Naruto used this very book against him to win the bell test after their first reunion. "So do you think you would be able to make it Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yeah that shouldn't be a problem. With all the peace we have these days it isn't like I'm doing much", Kakashi said putting the book away in his pouch. He was thinking about talking to Sakura about some more personal matters, see if she had found someone for her yet, but she didn't look like she had the time as she quickly stood up again. "Well that's great, I'll see you then. I'd love to stay, but I've got patients that I need to check on" she said with a smile and a bow before quickly turning and heading back towards the hospital. Kakashi was a little sad that he didn't get to spend more time with her, but seeing her always brought a smile to his face, and he would get to see her at the reunion anyway. "I wonder how Sauske-kun and Naruto-kun managed to get the families that they have now, like what did they say to their wives" Kakashi thought as he got up and started walking around the village. He was debating of stopping off by Sauske-kun's house to ask him, but he wasn't even sure what he would say. Romance wasn't his strong suit. He had read plenty about it, but reading and doing were two very different things. "I guess I'll pay Sauske-kun a visit".


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It had been several months since Kakashi had seen either Sauske or Ino and he had to admit to himself that he wasn't sure what to expect. "I'm surprised that he choose to leave in the old Uchiha section of the village, he must be planning on trying to rebuild the clan", Kakashi thought as he headed towards Sauske's house. When Sauske told Naruto that he wanted to move into his old house Naruto was against it at first, feeling that the memories of what happened there would be too much for he and Ino to handle, but Sauske was adamant that he wanted to live in the place that Itachi died to protect. There was no arguing with Sauske once he made up his mind about something that was made very clear when he left the village to find Itachi.

"Well this is the place" Kakashi thought as he saw the Uchiha crest upon the door, and if it wasn't for the beautiful arrangement of flowers outside as well there would be no way to tell it apart from the other houses, but Ino was raised in a family of flower specialists. Kakashi knocked on the door, and for a while there wasn't even a sound coming from the house, but then Ino came bursting through the door wearing a lovely floral apron around her usual purple outfit thought with a slight adjustment, adding the Uchiha crest on the back like most clothing in the clan. She was still just as beautiful as ever, her long blonde hair flowing well past her small of her back and down to her waist. Her belly had grown some over the past few months, due to the special child growing inside of her, but she hardly looked it.

"Kakashi-sensei what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Ino asked as she straightened out she creases in her apron, clearly from working on something in the kitchen. She hadn't been doing much work as a shinobi, the fact of the child growing inside her was enough reason for Naruto to take her off of missions for a while, which gave Ino a lot of time to learn some new passions, and learn she did. She took up cooking, painting, music, she improved some of her shinobi techniques, and even improved her floral decoration skills even more. She was at the point that she was even surpassing her mother in skill.

"Well I was wondering if Sauske-kun was home, I wanted to talk to him about something" Kakashi said shyly scratching the back of his head. Ino had learned not to ask too many questions with Kakashi, he was often very evasive with certain things.

"He's out back, feel free to go on back and see him" Ino said as she stepped aside to let Kakashi past her. He smiled politely as he walked past her and followed her guiding point to the back yard. They had a very lovely house, full of a variety of different things. From mission trophies, to flowers and everything in between it made their house very lovely. He finally found Sauske sitting on the back porch staring at the cherry blossom tree that sat next to a koi pond. "It's a lovely tree" Kakashi said as he took a seat next to Sauske on the porch. Sauske didn't look too much different but he did look a bit aged, and the scar across his lips from his fight with Naruto.

"It's my favorite part of the backyard; it always manages to make me feel peaceful. Sometimes Ino and I will just come out her and watch the tree and enjoy what life has offered us" Sauske said as he turned and looked at Kakashi. "How are you sensei? To what do I owe the visit?" Sauske asked with a genuine smile across his face, not the kind of smiles he used to give when he was a genin.

"Well I was hoping you could give me some advice….on love" Kakashi said with a smile and a awkward scratch of his hair. He never thought that he would be going to his students to ask for advice, especially about love but he had nowhere else to go and he didn't know anyone better at it than Naruto and Sauske.

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to post the newest chapter, I got a little swamped with


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Sauske wasn't sure what to say or think at this point. All his life Kakashi had been the one in charge, with all the plans and knowledge who always knew exactly what to do and when to do it. Kakashi was even the one who figured out how to beat the fake Madara Uchiha during the 4th Great Shinobi War. To have his teacher coming to him and asking for advice on something was very unusual. Sauske looked for a while at the tree and thought about what he was going to say, never really giving thought to how he had gotten with Ino. He had known growing up that Ino was attracted to him, hell every girl growing up had been attracted to him, but at that time he was so focused on revenge that he didn't even think about having any kind of relationship with anyone. Even after hearing the truth about Itachi, and returning to the village after losing to Naruto he still hadn't really thought about it. It was actually Ino who had made the first move, hunting down Sauske and asking if he wanted to get something to eat with her. At first he was against the idea, but she managed to convince him that it would be fun to take a day off from catching criminals and relax, and he had to admit that he needed a day off. Eating together had been nice, and it had made Sauske want to do it again with her, and after several dates they officially started going out. From there it didn't take long before they were married and happy.

"I guess the best advice I could give is to take her out and tell her how you feel. You can't expect her to fall for you or even try if she doesn't know that you feel the same way. And I don't think she will come to you like Ino came to me, after all Sakura is really busy with taking charge of the medical branch" Sauske said as he heard Ino walking through the door with a tray of tea. He turned and smiled to her as she sat the tray down and handed Kakashi and Sauske each a cup of tea.

"So is he finally going to tell Sakura how he feels" Ino asked as she took a seat next to Sauske and took a sip from her tea.

"Wait how do you guys know that I was talking about Sakura" Kakashi asked as he sat there frozen in place. He had no idea that people knew, let alone some of the people on his former team.

"Oh Kakashi-sensei, it's been really obvious for months now" Ino said with a laugh. At this point Kakashi couldn't help but blush. He didn't realize it had been so obvious, but now a more pressing question caught his attention.

"Does Sakura know?" he asked scared to know the answer. Part of him wanted to know that she did, because maybe it would make asking her on a date that much easier, but on the other hand he was afraid that if she knew and didn't feel the same that she would reject him, or already had.

"Either she already knows and doesn't want to say anything out of shyness, she knows and doesn't want to say anything to hurt you, or she is completely oblivious and has no idea" Ino said as she drank more of her tea. "Honestly knowing Sakura I'm leaning more towards the latter choice" she said with a laugh. It did make sense to Kakashi how that would be possible, after all Sakura had always been very focused on her goals, and now that she was in charge of the medical branch she was constantly really busy and hardly ever did anything fun, in fact this reunion would be the first time Sakura did something that wasn't involved with the medical branch.

"Guess you're right, it would probably be best if I tried to say something to her, but what would I say" Kakashi asked still unsure about that kind of stuff. Sure he had his books, but that was a different kind of love, and he didn't want to use that as a guide.

"Just tell her the truth. That's always the best choice" Sauske said as he put his arm around Ino and pulled her close to his chest. They were happy together and it was apparent, as a wide smile spread across her face. Kakashi knew that it had been the truth that brought both his students love in their lives, and maybe Sauske was right.

"Thank you for listening to me Sauske-kun, it really did help to hear that" Kakashi said finishing off his tea and putting the class down on the tray. "I'll see you at the reunion right?" Kakashi asked as he stood up and dusted of his pants.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world" Sauske said as he stood up to and followed Kakashi out the door. Sauske was glad that he got to see his old teacher some and that he even got to help him out. He had high hopes for Kakashi and really hoped that things would work out for him. "It was very nice to see you Kakashi-sensei" he said as he shook the teachers hand at the door.

"Yeah, it was and thanks for the advice" Kakashi said as he waved at Ino who was standing in the hallway. "I'll see you at the reunion Sauske-kun" he said before turning to leave. He had gotten some very good advice and knew exactly what he wanted to do, but that didn't change how nervous he was at doing it. It was going to be a long week while he waited for the reunion, and the chance to tell Sakura the truth about his feelings.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Today was the big day and Kakashi had to admit that he was nervous. He looked forward to seeing his team all together, he looked forward to seeing Hinata and Ino, they would both be there with their husbands, but he was nervous about telling Sakura how he felt. He had spent the up until the reunion thinking over what he was going to say to Sakura and more importantly what her response would be, and he was going to have to find the right time to do it as well. Too soon and it would possibly ruin the whole thing, but too late and he might miss his chance. He didn't really try and change is look that much, after all it was casual and that's usually how he dressed anyway, his standard jacket-vest combo.

Kakashi had just opened his door to the sight of Guy standing there about to knock. Kakashi was shocked to see Guy, he had left on a training trip is Lee after the war and had given no word as to their return. "When did you get back Guy-sensei?" Kakashi asked as he walked out and shut the door behind him.

"Oh just now actually, I was um coming to see if you were down for a spar" Guy said with a smile as he immediately got into a fighting stance. He was the same Guy that Kakashi knew, excited about everything, hyper, and overly confident, and Kakashi knew that confidence was well earned.

"I normally wouldn't mind Guy-sensei, but I'm actually on my way to a reunion with my team, so maybe some other time" Kakashi said with a smile as he patted Guy on the shoulder and walked past him.

"Come on Kakashi-sensei, now is our spring time of youth, we shouldn't make things like this wait till another day" Guy said following Kakashi while punching in the air to emphasize his "youth". He looked exactly the same and his punches moved just as fast as they normally did. Kakashi didn't know what Guy's secret was but he always seemed to have an endless supply of energy.

"Tell you what; I'll play you in a game of Janken. If you win I'll fight you, if you lose you wait another day" Kakashi said as he stopped and turned to face Guy. Kakashi knew that Guy would never and could never turn down a challenge, but what Guy didn't know is that Kakashi had started being able to use his Sharingan through his headband if he activated his Makgekyou. Guy sat looking at Kakashi for a few seconds obviously going to say yes but wanted to give the illusion that he had to actually think about it.

"Alright Kakashi-sensei you're on" Guy finally said putting his hand behind his back. Kakashi quickly followed suit just wanting to get the ordeal over with. They were ready to begin, giving each other a look like they were about to fight. "One, Two.." Guy started counting readying to throw out his choice. Kakashi activated his Mangekyou and focused it on where Guy's hand was going to end up. "Three!"

Hands flew out at the speed of light, fast enough that a normal person wouldn't be able to see anything. Kakashi saw it all though. He saw Guy's hand fly out, first in rock then quickly moving to paper. If it wasn't for his eye Kakashi wouldn't have seen it, a very quick movement completely seamless. Kakashi had the right move, the right hand. "Scissors beats paper Guy" Kakashi said with a smile as he simulated cutting Guy's paper with his scissors.

"Well this round is yours Kakashi, that makes 982 to 981" Guy said with a laugh as he hit Kakashi on the back and turned in the opposite direction. "I'll get you next time Kakashi-sensei" Guy called over his shoulder.

Kakashi had to admit that he was happy that he had won and was back on his original plan. He was hoping he wouldn't be too late because of Guy, but figured if he just walked a little faster he would make it in time. They were meeting at the training grounds were Kakashi gave them their first test and where he tested Sakura and Naruto after Naruto came back from his journey with Jiraya. They figured it would be a very good place to meet for their reunion.

"Kakashi-sensei is here" Hinata said as she poured a cup of tea for him. She was looking lovely, her long wait tied in a single ponytail to the side of her right shoulder. Naruto was sitting to the left of her, with their beautiful daughter sitting in his lap. Their daughter looked just like Hinata, the only difference being she had Naruto's hair. To Naruto's left was Sauske and Ino to his left. Finally there was the object of his desire, the lovely Sakura Haruno. She was spreading out food along the blanket for everyone, and the only open spot was next to her. Kakashi knew that this was Sauske's doing, probably didn't take much to convince Naruto about it either. Kakashi was getting nervous now, but he had to do what he came there to do, and there was no day like today.


End file.
